Combination tilt or axially reciprocal action valve

ABSTRACT

A pressurized container valve is capable of being actuated by either axial or tilting motion. Separate product passages leading to separate valve orifices are independently opened by distinct movements of the valve body to afford alternate independent paths to the discharge nozzle. These plural paths thereby prevent disabling of the container through clogging of a single orifice.

llnited States Patent Kerr et al. 1 a 29, 1973 54] COMBINATION TILT 0R AXIALLY References Cited REUPROCAL ACTION VALVE NI STATES PATENTS [751 lnvenwrsl David 9'' Des planes, Willard 3,300,105 1/1967 Rosen ..222/402.23 x Cums, Brooklyn, 3,048,307 8 1962 Michel ..222/402.22

[73] Assignee: Precision Valve Corporation, Yonkers, N Y Primary ExaminerSamuel F. Coleman Assistant Examiner-Francis J. Bartuska [22] Filed 1970 AttorneyDavis, Hoxie, Faithfull & Hapgood 21 Appl. No.2 82,928 [57] ABSTRACT [52] CL 251/303 251/353 251/354 A pressurized container valve is capable of being actu- 6 f 5 7 222,202.21 222/4O224: ated by either axial or tilting motion. Separate product 511 110. CI .Fl6k 11/00 Passages leading Separate valve orifices are inde- [58] Field of Search ..222/4021, 402.18, Pendemly Opened by distinct movements of the valve body to afford alternate independent paths to the discharge nozzle. These plural paths thereby prevent disabling of the container through clogging of a single orifice.

COMBINATION TILT OR AXIALLY RECIPROCAIL ACTION VALVE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Present commercial forms of aerosol dispenser valve are actuated either by a vertical or tilting movement of the valve body with respect to the pressurized container. In either case, appropriate movement of the valve body uncovers a valve orifice, thereby completing a path from inside the container to the discharge nozzle. Valve structures responsive to either movement are desirable. In some embodiments, such as that disclosed in Nissen US. Pat. No. 3,241,722, material within the container must pass sequentially through two valve orifices to reach the discharge nozzle. The fluid substance to be dispensed is forced along the appropriate path to the nozzle by the pressure within the container.

The valve orifices are usually relatively small in size and can become clogged by particles suspended in the fluid being dispensed. This problem is particularly acute when substances like starch, paints or antiperspirants are packaged in pressurized containers. Such clogging blocks the valve orifice-and renders the whole container useless. For this reason it is desirable to develop valve systems for pressurized containers having redundant valve orifices so that the clogging of one valve orifice does not disable the container.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention accomplishes this desired result by including within the valve assembly a disc or radial flange seated atop a coil spring contained within a valve housing and having an upward protruding cone on its top surface, which cone is biased by the spring against the lower end of a valve body having a hollow upstanding valve stem which extends from the valve assembly to an external discharge nozzle. Two valve orifices extend through the walls of the valve body to the passage within the valve stem portion. The first valve orifice extends transversly through the side of the valve body and is blocked by the inner edge of a conventional annular sealing gasket. The other orifice extends axially from the lower end of the valve body to the interior of the hollow valve stem. When the valve body is moved axially downward, the first of these orifices is separated from the encircling gasket, thereby opening a path from the container to the hollow valve stem passage and the discharge nozzle. When the valve body is tilted, the second valve orifice is no longer sealed by the protruding cone, and another, separate path is thereby completed from the container to the valve stem passage. Details of the invention will appear from the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description.

DRAWINGS FIG. I is an elevational view in partial section, of a pressurized dispenser showing the valve of the present invention in the closed position.

FIG. 2 is a view in partial section of the valve showing the position of the valve of the invention during axial actuation,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the position of the valve during tilt actuation, and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings, the dispenser includes an open-mouthed cylindrical container ll. A mounting cup 12 is secured to the container by conventional crimp means including flowed-in gasket 13. The central portion of the mounting cup rises to form a pedestal l4, and valve assembly 15 now to be described in detail is fitted and crimped into that pedestal.

Valve assembly 15 includes actuator button 21, valve body 22 having a hollow valve stem 27, disc 23, coil spring 24, valve housing 25 and dip tube 26. Disc 23 preferably has a diameter only slightly smaller than the diameter of the opening in valve housing 25 in which it is positioned. Axial passages extend through the dip tube, valve housing, and valve body to the discharge nozzle in button'2l. Valve body 22 contains a transverse first valve orifice 28 located along a narrowed portion 29 of upstanding hollow stem 27. Second valve orifice 33 in the lower face of valve body 22 communicates with the axial passage of hollow valve stem 27 through axial passage 34. Valve orifices 28 and 33 may be circular, or of any other convenient shape. Valve body 22 is biased upward toward closure by the force of coil spring 24, transmitted through disc 23, and its upward movement is limited by the abutment of shoulder 31 against the lower face of annular gasket 32. Disc 23 has a conical projection 23a on its upper face extending into and sealing second valve orifice 33, and has a spring retaining means 2312 on its lower face. As seen in the FIGS., the disc 23 is a radial flange with a spring retaining means depending from its lower face and a conical projection mounted on its upper face.

As is seen in FIGS. l. and 2, the lower end of valve body 22 does not rest directly on the surface of disc 23; instead, contact is made between the inner surface of valve orifice 33 and the conical projection 23a. As is also shown in the Figures, the lower end of valve body 22 has a tapered outer portion. This is preferred for reasons which will become apparent from the following discussion of the modes of operation.

MODES OF OPERATION When the valve is in its closed or rest position, valve orifices 28 and 33 are sealed respectively by gasket 32 and cone 23a. In the axial mode of operation, shown in FIG. 2, a downward force on actuator button 21 causes valve body 22 to move downward, releasing the pressurized product within the container to the atmosphere in a manner now to be described. The downward force causes downward movement of the tapered section 30 located above narrowed portion 29 of valve body 22. Such movement of tapered section 30 causes a downward deflection of the inner edge of gasket 32 which exposes transverse first valve orifice 28 to pressurized product. The product moves through the passages in dip tube 26 and valve housing 25, thence through valve orifice 28, the axial passage of stem 27 and the discharge nozzle in the button 21.

A horizontal force on button 21 causes the release of the pressurized material in the manner shown in FIG. 3. The horizontal force causes valve body 22 to tilt or rotate with respect to the valve housing. Transverse first valve orifice 28 remains sealed because the tilting of valve body 22 produces little or no axial movement of its portion 29 with respect to gasket 32. The tilting of valve body 22, however, causes lateral movement of spring biased disc 23 until its edge engages the inner wall of valve housing 25. Further lateral movement of the lower end of valve body 22 causes the valve orifice 33 to ride up the conical extension 23a of the disc 23 so that the cone 23a is moved away from engagement with valve orifice 33. The tapering of the outer portion of the lower end of valve body 22 facilitates this action. Valve orifice 33 is thereby unsealed, and the pressurized product is permitted to discharge to the atmosphere through the passages of the valve body 22 and its stem portion 27 and the nozzle of button 21.

One novel feature of the tilt action of the present invention is the relatively short horizontal stroke length required for actuation. If disc 23, as suggested above, is given a diameter only slightly smaller than that of the inner opening of valve housing 25 in which it is positioned, a small horizontal displacement of button 21 will cause the edge of the disc to contact the inner wall of valve housing 25 and initiate the discharge sequence. Large displacements of button 21 are not necessary.

Another version of the present invention is shown in FIG. 4. In this modification the projection on the top surface of disc 23 is made in the form of spherical dome 123a, and that portion of the inner surface of valve orifice 33 which contacts the projection, identified by numeral 36, is provided with a plurality of concentric ridges, the apices of which are contoured to the radius of the dome. These sharp ridges tend to trap and cut any solid particles in the material being dispensed which otherwise might occasionally become lodged against the single flat inner surface of valve orifice 33.

As desired, a user may operate the valve in its axial or tilt mode, or by applying an appropriate force to the discharge button he may cause the release of material through both valve orifices at the same time thereby increasing the delivery rate.

if either of valve orifices 28 or 33 should become clogged, the remaining mode of operation would not be affected because both valve orifices are selectively available to provide redundant passages connected in parallel between dip tube 26 and axial valve body stem 27. Therefore, a container constructed according to the present invention will have great reliability.

This reliability is in contrast to the problems inherent in valves of the class having plural orifices arranged sequentially between the pressurized container and the atmosphere. Where any single orifice of that type of valve becomes blocked, the valve is fully disabled. The fact that other orifices are open is irrelevant because one barrier in a series array is sufficient to close that array. In contrast the present invention provides parallel paths, so that if one is closed by clogging of a particular orifice, the remaining path is unaffected and the user can continue to dispense material through the unblocked orifice.

In addition, the present invention, with modifications obvious to one skilled in the art, permits the alternate or simultaneous dispensing of two different pressurized stored materials.

We claim:

1. For a pressurized dispenser, a valve capable of being actuated by either downward or tilting motion, the valve comprising:

a valve housing, a valve body having an upstanding hollow valve stem, the body being movable both axially and angularly with respect to the housing, the valve body having a passage therethrough communicating with an axial valve orifice at its lower end and with a transverse valve orifice intermediate its ends;

means for biasing the valve body upward;

a sealing member interposed between the biasing means and the axial valve orifice to seal that valve orifice when the valve body is in a rest position and to become unseated from sealing relationship when the valve body is tilted angularly with respect to the housing to establish communication with the passage of the valve body, said sealing member including a radial flange for engagement with the interior of the valve housing when the valve body is tilted angularly to cause the sealing member to become unseated for sealing relationship with the axial valve orifice; and

gasket means for sealing the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is in the rest position, the gasket means becoming unseated from sealing relationship with the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is moved downward with respect to the housing to establish communication with the valve body passage.

2. For a pressurized dispenser, a valve capable of being actuated by either downward or tilting motion, the valve comprising:

a valve housing, a valve body having an upstanding hollow valve stem, the body being movable both axially and angularly with respect to the housing, the valve body having a passage therethrough cornmunicating with an axial valve orifice at its lower end and with a transverse valve orifice intermediate its ends;

means for biasing the valve body upward;

a sealing member interposed between the biasing means and the axial valve orifice to seal that valve orifice when the valve body is in a rest position and to become unseated from sealing relationship when the valve body is tilted angularly with respect to the housing to establish communication with the passage of the valve body, said sealing member including a conical portion and a radial flange for engagement with the interior of the valve housing when the valve body is tilted angularly to cause the conical portion to become unseated from sealing relationship with the axial valve orifice; and

gasket means for sealing the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is in the rest position, the gasket means becoming unseated from sealing relationship with the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is moved downward with respect to the housing to establish communication with the valve body passage. 

1. For a pressurized dispenser, a valve capable of being actuated by either downward or tilting motion, the valve comprising: a valve housing, a valve body having an upstanding hollow valve stem, the body being movable both axially and angularly with respect to the housing, the valve body having a passage therethrough communicating with an axial valve orifice at its lower end and with a transverse valve orifice intermediate its ends; means for biasing the valve body upward; a sealing member interposed between the biasing means and the axial valve orifice to seal that valve orifice when the valve body is in a rest position and to become unseated from sealing relationship when the valve body is tilted angularly with respect to the housing to establish communication with the passage of the valve body, said sealing member including a radial flange for engagement with the interior of the valve housing when the valve body is tilted angularly to cause the sealing member to become unseated for sealing relationship with the axial valve orifice; and gasket means for sealing the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is in the rest position, the gasket means becoming unseated from sealing relationship with the transVerse valve orifice when the valve body is moved downward with respect to the housing to establish communication with the valve body passage.
 2. For a pressurized dispenser, a valve capable of being actuated by either downward or tilting motion, the valve comprising: a valve housing, a valve body having an upstanding hollow valve stem, the body being movable both axially and angularly with respect to the housing, the valve body having a passage therethrough communicating with an axial valve orifice at its lower end and with a transverse valve orifice intermediate its ends; means for biasing the valve body upward; a sealing member interposed between the biasing means and the axial valve orifice to seal that valve orifice when the valve body is in a rest position and to become unseated from sealing relationship when the valve body is tilted angularly with respect to the housing to establish communication with the passage of the valve body, said sealing member including a conical portion and a radial flange for engagement with the interior of the valve housing when the valve body is tilted angularly to cause the conical portion to become unseated from sealing relationship with the axial valve orifice; and gasket means for sealing the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is in the rest position, the gasket means becoming unseated from sealing relationship with the transverse valve orifice when the valve body is moved downward with respect to the housing to establish communication with the valve body passage. 